ع
Bahrain’s Finance and Economic Affairs Committee ratified an amendment to the GCC Unified Excise Tax Agreement while approving the kingdom’s accession to the OECD Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on automatic exchange of financial account information, according to a report in Alayam News. The committee’s review covered both measures under Decree No. 15/2026, with lawmakers examining how the steps would align Bahrain with updated regional tax rules and broader international obligations. MPs weighed the implications for selective taxation harmonisation across the Gulf Cooperation Council states as well as commitments to global transparency standards that facilitate cross-border data sharing among tax authorities.
The amendment to the GCC Unified Excise Tax Agreement, signed by member states in June 2025, revises key definitions and introduces flexibility in tax calculation methods, a Lexis Middle East briefing from early 2026 indicated. It permits countries to apply excise taxes through a percentage-based model, a fixed per-unit approach or a combination of both, updating the original framework that dates to 2017. According to the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority in Saudi Arabia, the Unified Excise Tax Agreement for the GCC was published in May 2017 to coordinate taxation on goods such as tobacco, energy drinks and carbonated beverages deemed harmful to health or the environment.
Bahrain has applied 100 percent excise duties on tobacco products and 50 percent on energy drinks since the agreement took effect, consistent with rates adopted by several other GCC members, regional tax summaries show. The latest changes aim to modernise administrative mechanisms and improve consistency in how selective taxes are enforced across the bloc. A KPMG Bahrain report on GCC tax developments noted that similar ratifications by neighbouring states, including a UAE decree in June 2026, have followed the same June 2025 annex to the agreement.
The committee also endorsed Bahrain’s joining of the OECD Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement, which underpins the Common Reporting Standard for automatic exchange of financial account information, the Alayam News account stated. This accession commits the kingdom to exchanging data with partner jurisdictions to curb tax evasion and enhance compliance. The OECD’s Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes lists Bahrain among participants that have activated bilateral exchange relationships under the framework.
OECD figures show that information was exchanged on 123 million bank accounts worth EUR 12 trillion in 2022 alone as a result of such arrangements. The Global Forum has reported that enhanced tax transparency and exchange of information have helped uncover at least EUR 135 billion in additional revenues worldwide since 2009. Bahrain’s move aligns with its established role in the Global Forum, where it has maintained commitments that have kept it off lists of non-cooperative jurisdictions compiled by bodies such as the European Union.
Later legislative steps, including parliamentary debate scheduled for May 2026, built directly on the committee’s April recommendations, according to follow-up coverage by Gulf Digital News. The combined actions on excise harmonisation and information exchange form part of Bahrain’s broader efforts to adapt its fiscal regime to evolving regional and global requirements without altering core tax rates already in force. Law No. 35 of 2026 ultimately ratified the protocol amending the Common Excise Tax Agreement, completing the domestic approval process initiated by the committee.
